Those driving the green energy transition in the U.S. and beyond need to address a major supply chain issue, namely Critical materials used in these products are sometimes obtained through child or forced labor practices. [emphasis, links added]
A U.S. Department of Labor report released this month, “The 2024 List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor,” highlights the humanitarian concerns involved in green technology and other sectors such as agriculture and fisheries.
“Forced labor and child labor are common across the globe – even in good times, in rich and poor countries alike,” Thea Mei Lee, Under Secretary of State for International Affairs, wrote in a statement accompanying the report.
“And, while comprehensive and accurate statistics are not always available, Global trends show an increase in both child labor and forced labor.“
China's mining of aluminum and silicon from Congo and Indonesian nickel and cobalt involves forced labor, new reports say. The report said child labor was used to mine the cobalt, as well as copper from Congo and Zambia, Zambian manganese, Zimbabwean lithium and raw materials for indium in South Korea.
It also highlighted labor concerns in the supply chain for some Chinese products, saying Chinese lithium-ion batteries are produced with minerals from Congo that use child labor and/or forced labor.
The global shift away from planet-warming fossil fuels and towards more climate-friendly renewable energy and electric vehicles – commonly known as the energy transition – is driving demand for such minerals, which are used in technologies such as electric vehicles, batteries and power lines.
The International Energy Agency predicts that by 2040, demand for lithium may grow more than 40 times, while demand for cobalt and nickel may grow about 20 to 25 times. Copper demand is expected to more than double over the same period.
The United States does not necessarily import most metals from these countries, but they remain major global suppliers.
For example, 46% of U.S. nickel imports come from Canada, but half of the nickel mined globally in 2023 will come from Indonesia. While major suppliers of U.S. cobalt imports include Norway, Canada, Finland and Japan, most of the world's cobalt comes from Congo.
Abigail Hunter, executive director of the SAFE Critical Minerals Strategy Center, an energy security think tank, said this means that even if the United States does not directly import these minerals, it may still import items containing these minerals. (hill)
The findings call for action by academia, NGOs, governments and multinational corporations to investigate outstanding issues and develop practical, long-term solutions, the report said.
Top image via SkyNews/YouTube screencap
Reading break at the Town Hall
